Let's talk about hygiene

On my quest to eat "cleaner", I've also been keenly interested in the other stuff I put in and on my body.. Why should I limit it to homemade soap? I'd heard of something called going "no poo".. I promise it's not a disgusting as it sounds!  Let me tell you, I haven't shampooed my hair since late September, and I LOVE it! I know you're probably thinking "ick", but let me explain the joys of baking soda and apple cider vinegar. My hair has never been bouncier or easier to work with. I keep a bottle of baking soda in my shower that I add water to, shake up, and pour liberally over my scalp. I work it in really well, Then I rinse well. To condition, I spray my hair down with diluted vinegar, and then rinse with cooler water to polish it off. Guess what? I can actually pull a brush through my hair now, sopping wet, and within a minute! No small feat for my usual rats nest. And another awesome side effect, presumably from the ACV? My mole and my age spots have faded to practically invisible! :0)

Luci went "no poo" shortly after, and uses a little coconut oil as a deep conditioner, and has bouncy curls and rave reviews as well. My friend Sophorn has used it to lighten her luxurious black hair and a mole too, so if you want to try something new this year, you definitely should put this on your to-do list.

This method will require tweaking dependent on your hair and water hardness, but it's worth a little experimentation. I started off with 1-2 tsp baking soda per 1/2 pint of water, and I do 1:4 ratio of ACV to water. If you google it, you'll get different recipes. You may experience a transitional period also.. I got a waxy buildup on my hair after the first couple washes, which went away with a very thorough scrub of baking soda water. Now, I only have to wash my hair twice a week, and it's squeaky clean and happy!

Tonights dinner: Easy Mujadara, pita, and tzaziki

Seems all i do is cook lately.. honestly im loving it! It's so much fun discovering new flavors, and reinventing old ones. Here are some of this week's victories.

My favorite? No knead refridgerator flat bread

6.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 Tbs yeast
1.5 salt
3 cups warm water, approximately 100 degrees

Mix yeast, salt, and warm water. Slowly stir in flour until combined. Dont knead! Cover in a lidded container with the lid popped just enough to let gasses escape. let rise for an hour or so, then pop in the fridge to cook the next day

For pita, preheat oven to 500 degrees. Flour the counter heavily, the dough will be really sticky. With wet hands, quickly roll out a handful of dough into a ball. Drop it on the flour, sprinkle flour on top, the roll out 1\4 thick. Flip while rolling if its too sticky. Bake in REALLY hot oven 3-5 minutes

For naan:
Roll the same as pita
Instead of oven, preheat skillet high. Brush 1 side with ghee or melted butter, and cook butter side down 2-3 minutes. Brush other side, and cook 2-3 minutes.

Mujadara
2 cups brown lentils
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 Tbs butter
1 tsp salt, pepper, and allspice
2 bay leaves

Boil lentils, salt, pepper, and bay leaves in 8ish cups water until tender
While those are cooking, sautee onions in butter until they caramelize. Add a little water to deglaze the pan, then add allspice. Drain lentils and discard bay leaves, reserving some liquid.. i dump the excess from the pot, and save myself from washing the strainer. Mix with onions, and simmer for a few more minutes

This tastes great on it's own, over rice, or especially delicious in a pita with fresh tzaziki, a dab of mayo, and spicy brown mustard. So few ingredients, so much flavor!

Tzaziki sauce
2 small containers of plain greek yogurt
1 cucumber, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 bunch of chopped scallions
2tsp lemon zest or lemmon pepper
1Tbs garlic

Mix and chill, tastes even better the 2nd day

Makes a TON of food, im guessing jason and i could have this for dinner all week. Get those freezer bags out!

Leave well enough alone? Nah!

I don't know what it is about me and cooking... I just cant leave well enough alone I guess. I rarely, if ever, stick to a recipe I find. Most times, it's a hodge podge variety or recipes I smush together because I can't decide. Sometimes it ends wonderfully, sometimes it ends in yet another night of spaghetti.. tonight was pretty tasty and my tummy is uber happy. And it was easy.. bonus points! My boyfriend even liked it, despite his "finely tuned" pallette ;0)

Barley and mushroom casserole (vegetarian or vegan friendly)

1 small chopped onion
1 large grated carrot
12 oz bag of recipe-ready frozen mushrooms
2 cups chopped green beans
1 cup chickpeas
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 cups veggie broth (I used concentrate)
1 cup barley
1 tsp thyme
1 Tbs parsley flakes
2-3 Tbs oil or butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Sautee  onion in oil or butter until it starts to caramelize
Add carrot and garlic until it sweats, 2-3 minutes
Add mushrooms and thyme..they hold a lot of liquid so i cooked mime down 10 minutes or so to get all the flavors playing together nicely
Add the rest (peas and corn would be good too) and simmer covered on medium low for 30-45 minutes, until barley is tender to your preference. Make sure to check the fluid levels! Add water or more veggie broth if need be
Alternately, you can do this in an oven safe pan and bake like a casserole, 350 for about an hour, but I'm a control freak, and check on my food constantly, so stove top is much easier for me

V8 Cabbage soup recipe

To be honest, when i came across this recipe, i thought it would *yawn* put me to sleep.. but i never know what to do with cabbage when i buy it, and its supposed to be super good for tummy woes from what i've read, so i figured i'd give it a shot. Never know if you never try, right?

Boy, was i ever wrong about boring! It turned out DELICIOUS! Whodathunkit? I never understood how people actually stuck to that cabbage soup diet I've heard about until now. I could probably eat this every day for a week. Heck, i probably will.. it made a ton of food

Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 finely diced carrots
1 heaping Tbs minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock
3 cups spicy V8 juice
1 tsp marjoram
2 bullion cubes
Salt and pepper to taste (add at the end, after you've simmered it to desired consistency)

Directions: throw it all in a large stock pot, and add water enough to cover by an inch or so. Boil on medium-high for roughly an hour, checking fluid levels frequently. Time varies on preference, i like mine super condensed and soft veggies.

Makes 5-6 Jenn-sized servings (this girl can eat!)

On a side note, i think I'll add some lentils and bulgur wheat to tonight's soup, and make it a more complete meal. You could probably add just about anything to this and it still taste fantastic. The original recipe that inspired mine used canned tomatoes and red pepper flakes. 

Vegetarianism is interesting

Getting old sucks.... scratch that. Getting old after 31 years of self neglect sucks! Sooo i decided that abundant veggies and lack of processed foods were in order. Given my love of breakfast meats, this is going to be..well.. interesting. Kinda like last night's dinner, which even my garbage disposal refused to it was so bad, lol. I'll share the two good recipes I made, but be forewarned- my "measurements" are more like guesstimates.

My first proud accomplishment: spinach and artichoke quiche

7.5 oz jar of artichokes, chopped
1 can croissants
6 large eggs, beaten
1Tbs cornstarch
3Tbs parmesan
1/8 cup mozzarella shreds
2 fistfulls of fresh spinach, chiffoned
2-3 scallions, diced
1tsp garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375
Lightly grease pie pan
Arrange croissants into a crust, smushing.as needed
Bake crust until browned, 9-11 minutes
Mix the ingredients, including artichoke juice thoroughly.
Pour into pie crust and bake for 30 minutes, or until firm in the center

Feeds 6

Soap is coming along. ..

So... this week I got to make surprise visit to Jenny's.... While I was there I got to peek in on our soaps that are curing..

And to my pleasant surprise they're coming along... we have learned some valuable things in our race to make the perfect soap concoctions...

1) Pica (who we have lovingly started calling Rufus the doofus) will eat anything and everything he can get a hold of.... including lavender and our strawberry cream soap!

2) The cream and milk base soaps stink to high heavens but get better as they cure

3) Hot process method may not be our favorite or prettiest method... but it's instant gratification.... and we love that! And at times need that.... yeah we are those people... waiting for soap to cure is easier when you have work to distract you....

4) The "lye dance" is the best and we can't wait to do it again!

5) We want to be Soapysmiths when we grow up!

And 6) honey slows down the curing process... or we botched the batch.... we are still waiting so see what happens to our lavender earl grey and honey infused soap...

I hate the waiting game!...

Well friends until next time...
Keep the gloves and vinegar handy... you never know when you can help a soapysmith out!

vacation, the "lye dance", and homemade sugar scrub recipe

Luci and I had a wonderful vacation last week, making wedding favors for a friends wedding (80 cds certainly didn't sound like a lot before we procrastinated, lol), making bridesmaids candles, and stirring soap like nobodies business!! We even learned a new dance in the kitchen, called the "OMJ did i splash the lye" routine. Vinegar is your friend, my friends.

I'm really enjoying this DIY kick for soaps and beauty projects.. today I was looking for a recipe for Melt and Pour soap base from scratch, and everything I found had some strange chemical that I don't care to own. Dissappointing. My version of DIY should only use things i can pronounce, or easily cook up from the contents of my kitchen cupboards.

A common ingredient I found in my quest for DIY M&P was propelyne glycol. Sounds yummy, huh? Even though the FDA says its ok, I'm not going to store a jar of it next to my peanut butter.. but to be fair, Sodium chloride sounds gross too, but you can't live without it (salt). But to err on the side of caution, I'd rather not use something remotely connected to anti-freeze in my soaps. Makes me wonder what other delicious chemical cocktails I consume on a regular basis, and if I'll regret it down the road.

But on a more positive note, I made a sugar scrub that was absolutely wonderfully easy and feels Glorious on my skin and crave hot fluffy buttermilk pancakes:

2 tbs each of white sugar, brown sugar
1 tbs each of honey and olive oil
Splash of maple extract (optional, for fragrance)

Stir together, adjusting oil so it doesn't pool on top. If it does, add sugar.

Optional: adding a tiny splash of hand soap makes the end result less oily; I prefer it without soap